The Sheep
by Eris Clio
Summary: Ripto loses his scepter while relaxing in Summer Forest one day, and Spyro and his friends find it.  Will Ripto ever get it back? and it seems he has also made a fluffy new friend.  Set in Avalar, from Ripto's Rage.  Hope you love it!


Hey, this story takes place in Avalar from Spyro: Ripto's Rage, but after the game has ended and also after Season of Flame. So yeah. I really hope you enjoy it, I had fun writing it! It also stars Ripto.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Spyro, just writing about it. :)

The Sheep

One day, Ripto was sitting under the shade of a cherry blossom tree in Summer Forest in the same area by the portal to Glimmer, reading his favorite book. Every now and then at irregular intervals, a white or pink petal would flutter down upon his head, and he would brush it off monotonously. Lately, the evil business had been pretty slow, because he hadn't been able to come up with an evil plan for weeks. He wasn't doing anything harmful or destructive to Avalar, and even though Spyro, Elora, Hunter, Bianca, Sparx and The Professor each had their own personal restraining order against him, meaning he wasn't allowed in Avalar anyway, he was in the Summer Forest because he'd heard they were all on vacation to Dragon Shores. He liked just wasting his time here in this particular realm, so he figured he'd be here since no one would ever know anyway.

Ripto put his book down, because he was getting very bored.

He couldn't go over to Gnasty's house to play video games with him, because Gnasty was out of town visiting his mom. The Sorceress was in the hospital because Ripto had accidentally pushed her down the stairs, again and again…and again… Grendor was nowhere to be found so he had no one to hang around with. And we all know how boring Crush and Gulp are.

Sure, there were things to do in his Chateau, but he had gotten tired of playing pool by himself about 3 hours ago.

Ripto kicked his book away from him carelessly. Maybe he would take a nap? Or he could take a stroll around Summer Forest. Just then he heard a sound that sounded really sheep-ish. It was a sheep. It was pure white, and looked very soft. It had black legs, and was just like the kind of lamb that Spyro would burn for a butterfly, or just for fun, if he wanted to. It bounced by Ripto and looked at him with eyes that were bigger than its face if that's even possible. Ripto looked at it, and when it didn't look away, he narrowed his eyes at it. It just stood there being all… sheep-ish! How dare it not run away and hide when the all- powerful, Ripto the Sorcerer stared at it! It simply wasn't scared.

Just then a horrible thought occurred to Ripto. Was he losing his touch? He sighed. People just weren't scared of him like they were when he first tried to take over Avalar. It was most likely because when he first came to Avalar, no one knew who he was or how powerful he was. But then a little Dragon from out of town comes and defeats him in a battle. All of a sudden, people don't cower when his name is mentioned. It was pure agony to Ripto. Then he punched the lamb in the face. It didn't even flinch! It just stood there and twitched a little like it was stupid.

Then it took a step closer to Ripto. He put his hand on his scepter in case it were to attack or go for his throat. You could never trust anything in Avalar, or at least that's what Ripto thought. So it just hopped a little closer to him and then came up really close to his face, and since he was lying flat on his back, it jumped up and sat on his stomach, right next to his ruby necklace. Ripto was outraged! He picked it up by its fluffy little head, and set it down next to him. It crawled right back up onto his stomach. He did the same thing and this time turned it around and gave it a little push and said,

"Get going, sheepy."

It didn't, it just hung around and never left! Then Ripto figured he could take a nap and by the time he woke up, the lamb's mom most likely would have brought it back home.

Ripto woke up about an hour later, and saw the sheep in the same place as when he went to sleep. The lamb was asleep as well. Ripto wondered where its mom was, and looked around and didn't see any other sheep anywhere and there weren't that many places a sheep could go to in Summer Forest, since they couldn't go underwater. Ripto figured it probably didn't have a mom, or the mom abandoned it when it was little. So he picked up his book and tried to shake the lamb off it because it was sitting on the book. Ripto decided that if he took a little walk down to the lake, he would probably lose the animal.

Ripto weaved in and out of lots of trees, and entered the doorway, where he saw a bridge, or at least what was left of it after he had destroyed it a few months ago. Ripto smiled to himself, knowing that he put a glitch in the little dragon's quest to stop his reign over the city.

"Ha…Spyro probably fell off that bridge a few times!" he said with an evil grin on his face.

The lamb was still following him. And they were both standing on the edge of the broken bridge. Ripto figured he would simply conjure up the broken pieces of the bridge so he could walk across. He did so and when he was on the other side and the bridge was back to being broken, he heard a small 'baa' from the other side of the bridge. It was the sheep. It was standing on the edge of the bridge, and looking at the lake on the other side, apparently wanting to go and get a drink, Ripto thought. He looked around, making sure no one saw that he was doing something nice, because that would ruin his reputation. Then he performed the spell again, and the lamb ran across the bridge. It looked at Ripto, as if to say 'thanks'. But how can you really tell since it was a sheep? Ripto gave it a strange look and continued to the edge of the lake. When he got there, he took his shoes off, and rolled the bottom of his pants up to his knees, and dangled his feet in the cool water. He looked up at the bluish-green flags that hung from the castle's walls, and thought how HE could have had flags with HIS face on them hanging there right now. But as he thought, the sheep came and sat down right next to him and jumped in the water and started floating around on the water like a pillow. Its long ears dangled in the water and got kind of wet. Ripto laughed a little at how the sheep was just floating there. Then he remembered that he left his scepter back by the doorway, and turned around to make sure it was still there. It was, but when he turned back to the lakefront, he accidentally knocked one of his shoes into the little pool. It started to float just like the sheep, who was having fun spinning in circles on top of the water. The sheep saw the shoe float by and grabbed it in her mouth. Then she took it back to Ripto, and dropped it next to him like a dog would with a stick.

Ripto looked at the sheep and saw that the lamb's eyes were the same color as his – bright green. All of a sudden Ripto's cell phone rang. He picked it up and answered it. It was Gulp.

"Hey, boss?"

"What? Do you know you're ruining my relaxing time?"

"Yea. But they just came back from Dragon Shores! I saw them walk passed the Chateau and make faces in the windows! You'd better get out of Avalar!"

"Who just got back!" yelled Ripto.

"Spyro and friends!" Gulp answered robotically, like he had been told to say it that way.

"Oh, no!" Ripto yelled again.

Gulp had to hold the receiver a few inches away from his ear, unless he wanted to go deaf.

Ripto then took his feet out of the pool, and fixed the bottom of his pants. He grabbed his shoes and socks, and just carried them as he ran towards the portal to Winter Tundra; the sheep was STILL following him.

"Looks like I made a new friend." Ripto thought to himself, but he wasn't very happy about it.

Once he got to Winter Tundra, he was about to put his shoes back on, but he heard Elora's voice coming from somewhere near the Dragon Shores portal area, which was right where he was headed, (to his Arena, actually.) But he and the sheep ducked down behind one of the big doors that led into the inner portion of the castle. As Spyro, Hunter, Elora, and Bianca came out of the front doors. They were talking about sandwiches. Or at least Hunter was. The others were just listening and rolling their eyes.

Ripto then analyzed his situation. He could go back home and be bored for the rest of the day, or he could go back to Summer Forest, but that's where Hunter, Elora, and Bianca lived, so they'd probably go back there for the rest of the evening. Once the four heroes had gone into the Summer Forest portal, Ripto then decided to teleport himself back to his Chateau. He looked around for his scepter, and realized it was gone! All of a sudden he started looking around frantically for it, and when he couldn't find it, he started to think about it really hard. Then his brain started to hurt. But he finally realized that he left his scepter in Summer Forest, and chances were that Spyro and his little friends had already seen it, seen as it was lying right next to the portal there. Should he risk going back to Summer Forest to quickly grab his only source of power and defense? Or should he just leave it there and hope it will still be there tomorrow or later to-night? He was so freaked out right now at the thought that Spyro could have his scepter in his very paws at this moment! It scared him and he also knew that if anyone saw his signature weapon inside the walls of Avalar, they would know he was here! They would probably send out search parties and maybe they would even search his Chateau! That's not good. Crush and Gulp would tell anyone where he was in an instant even without accepting any bribes! Ripto had to act fast, because if he didn't he would be thrown in jail, or killed. (That's what the Avalarian council of Fauns told him when he fled the city after his embarrassing defeat.)

In Summer Forest…

Spyro, Elora, Hunter and Bianca were walking along when Bianca tripped over something. She looked down and saw something she recognized all too well.

"Spyro! We have a problem!"

"What's wrong, Bianca?"

Bianca handed a golden scepter to her Dragon friend. He examined it closely with narrowed eyebrows, noting the bright red jewel sitting comfortably on top. He knew who's it was all along, and that wasn't the reason his eyes were fixed on it. He was wondering why in the world it would be in Summer Forest, and without its owner. No doubt Ripto had been here not but a few hours ago, but how he got into Avalar without anyone finding out was what worried him. He knew Ripto was a skilled magician, but the security around Avalar, (and especially around the home worlds) was very tight ever since Ripto first had taken over.

"Elora, you know what this means right?"

"Yes! Ripto's been in Avalar…but how did he get in?"

"Maybe he flew over the guard's heads!" Hunter answered, even though he was just being silly.

"Hunter, don't be ridiculous, Ripto can't fly!"

"How sure are you of that?"

This made everyone stop and think.

"Well, if Ripto really does have wings..." Spyro pondered,

"Then they must be really tiny like Crush's. I never seen no stupid wings."

Elora and Spyro exchanged worried glances and then Hunter and Elora exchanged concerned glances. Then Bianca felt left out so she exchanged a thoughtful glance with Spyro. This went on for a while and once they had all run out of adjectives, they all decided to go their separate ways and deal with this tomorrow. They were all tired as well.

Meanwhile, in Winter Tundra, Ripto was debating whatever to do to get back his one and only beloved scepter. He was also getting a bit chilly, and he could tell that the sheep he had inadvertently brought back from Summer Forest was also a bit cold. Or perhaps frostbitten, Ripto couldn't tell since it was already all white. What he didn't know was that it was in fact covered in snow. Ripto knew that he needed his scepter before the day was out, and he was a bit delirious from anxiety, so he started a conversation with the only other living thing around.

"You know, I got that scepter when I was just a little kid. The ruby, that's come and gone, yes, but the scepter itself. I miss it. It feels…strange." He looked over at the sheep to find that it was surprisingly looking back at him and listening intently.

Ripto trudged back to his arena, knowing it was at least warm there, and was not one bit surprised to find that the sheep followed closely behind. Up in the arena, Ripto waited surrounded by warmth from the lava, with the sheep, for a few hours. He then entered the portal back into Summer Forest, where it was getting dark. It was a beautiful sunset, and Ripto would have noticed this if he was the kind of person to notice pretty things. Ripto looked all over for his scepter, thought he found nothing. He eventually gave up, and with no way to teleport himself, settled down for a nice night of sleep in a deserted part of the Forest, where no one was sure to find him, the sheep next to him the entire time.

Spyro and Elora found their morning to be very bright, sunny, and happy. They had found Ripto's power source, meaning it would be easy to detain him if and when they found him. The two were planning to meet up with Hunter and Bianca to play some catch in front of the pond by the Idol Springs portal. It was an open area, and perhaps Ripto would come back to the place where he left his scepter. It was worth a try, and worth having fun while trying to conquer evil.

"Where could Hunter and Bianca be?" wondered Spyro aloud to his faun friend.

"I'm not sure, but I'm sure it's Hunter's fault they're late!"

"Oh I don't know about that, I'm sure Bianca is spending too much time putting on her make-up, or something like that!" Spyro complained.

"She is a rabbit. She doesn't wear make-up, Spyro." Elora said matter-of-factly.

Spyro gave her a look that meant he was sorry.

Ripto woke up to a very bright sun shining in his eyes. He had fallen asleep stashed underneath the broken bridge, by the small pond. He glanced around, making sure no one had learned of his hiding spot, and decided it was time to find a way back home, even if there was no magic to be used. The sheep was a few feet away, drinking greedily from the pond. It looked like a very good idea to Ripto, so he sat down next to the white animal and scooped up a few handfuls of cool liquid. After they had had their drink, they climbed the grassy staircase and into full sunlight.

Then Ripto heard it. The dragon's laughter. It was coming from next to the lake, the same spot he was sitting in not a day earlier! Ripto hid quickly behind the door leading into the opening, not wanting to give himself away so quickly. Just then, the cheetah and the rabbit had come out of the Autumn Plains portal, and started saying hello to the dragon and faun. Bianca was holding his scepter!

"I hope she doesn't do anything with it, she thinks he's skilled in the art of magic, but I have seen her work, barely basic. " Ripto whispered to the sheep. The sheep reached its head up and licked his face. For the first time, Ripto acknowledged to himself that it was a cute creature. If it kept following him around, maybe he would just let it. It was rather nice after all, having someone who wanted to be with him so much. It had never happened before, and Ripto found that he enjoyed it very much.

Ripto glanced back at the four friends, who were now siting with their backs to him, dangling their feet in the water as he did yesterday. His scepter lay forgotten behind them, casually thrown on the side. This was his only chance to get it back and vanish! He held his finger to his lips to signify quiet, and the sheep noticed. Ripto quietly crept on the grass, making no noise as he walked slowly closer to the four. They were talking very loud, so any sound would have been drowned out either way. The sheep followed, of course. Ripto had his hand on the scepter when Bianca turned around, and she jumped at the person so close to her.

"Ripto! What are you doing?" she shouted. Within seconds, all four friends were on their feet and Spyro was ready to flame anything that moved.

"Ripto what are you doing here? You know you were banned from Avalar, right?" Spyro said heroically.

Ripto was a bit afraid, simply because he was cornered by all four of the people he least wanted to be cornered by. Luckily he had his scepter, but he daren't use it because spells take time, and Spyro would be much faster.

"I-I-I was just in Avalar to relax, I was simply enjoying the season, I wasn't planning anything evil, I swear!" he stammered.

Elora interjected, "How do we know that, Ripto? You-" she was cut off by Bianca.

"Oooooh," she squealed like a little girl, "You found Gem!"

She knelt down beside Ripto and started petting the sheep that had been following him this entire time. Gem started back at Ripto, even though Bianca was giving her so much attention.

"I, well, yes, I suppose I did!" Ripto said, very proud of himself all of a sudden.

Well, obviously the sheep belonged to someone! Ripto thought. It was so well trained, how could it not be a pet? He was silly to think he wouldn't find its owner and would be able to take it home. Bianca looked up at Ripto, bright blue eyes full of joy.

"Oh, thank you so much Ripto, I thought I'd lost her! She went missing a few days ago, oh I'm so thankful!" she cried, and she hugged Ripto and kissed him on the cheek. He was very surprised and blushed a bit.

"What are we going to do, though?" Spyro asked, still wanting Ripto to pay for what he was no doubt planning to do.

"I think we should let him leave peacefully," Bianca said, "After all, he did find Gem for me, and I suppose he just saw all the wanted posters and came here to help look for her!"

"Oh yes, of course." Ripto lied.

Spyro and Hunter didn't believe him, but Elora and Bianca made noises of appreciation for his kind act.

"Well, if that is all then I shall just be going back home…" Ripto started, not wanting to stay for longer than needed. He started walking toward the portal to Winter Tundra, just like he had done yesterday, and like yesterday, the sheep followed him still.

"Oh, my." Stammered Elora.

"No, no. You must stay with your owner. Go." Ripto pointed towards Bianca, and looking at the sheep he made a stern face, but was met with the opposite. Gem obviously did not want her owner back. Ripto picked her up and brought her to Bianca and set the mass of white wool in her arms. Bianca thanked him again, and he was on his way. The sheep quietly 'baa'ed as he turned his back, scepter in hand.

Two weeks later, Ripto ventured another walk through Avalar. He was a bit downtrodden that he had no more pet sheep, as he was planning to keep it. He had made up his mind to let her stay right before she was snatched away from him. But of course, being an evil sorcerer, he couldn't let it bother him. He was sitting under the same tree in Summer Forest, this time he had brought some food with him, gummy bears of course. Everyone loves gummy bears, even if you're evil. Except perhaps Moneybags doesn't care too much for them because it's a bit awkward to eat bears if you are also a bear. He heard footsteps coming towards him. He immediately took this for a sign of someone trying to hurt him, and therefore raised his scepter. He saw that the visitor was Bianca, and she was leading an all-to-familiar pet. The sheep 'baaa'ed softly and sped up her walk towards Ripto. As Gem came nearer, Ripto greeted her with a pat on the head and a rare smile. Bianca smiled too and sat down next to Ripto.

"I know I shouldn't be here," the sorceress started, "But I know that Gem cares for you and I know she'd want to see you."

"Well, what makes you think I want to see her?" Ripto snapped, trying to keep his façade.

Bianca replied, "I think you'd be lying if you said you didn't."

"Maybe…" Ripto thought out loud. He fed a bit of bread to the sheep, who chewed it slowly.

"I shouldn't be here either," Ripto said, with a bit of a laugh.

"My friends would hate me if they knew I was being nice to you." Bianca said childishly.

"And the Sorceress would kill me if she knew I was talking with you."

The two laid down on the grass and looked up at the clouds, with the small sheep in between them, very content indeed.

The End

Well, that's it, I hope you've liked it and please review! I love feedback, almost as much as I love writing! :)


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